Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French mot note of a hunting horn or bugle (late 12th cent. in Old French), specific use of mot word (see mot n.²).

Etymology: < Middle French, French mot word, utterance, saying, motto, heraldic device (c1000 in Old French, c1227 in bon mot clever or witty saying (see bon mot n. at bon adj. g); 1549 in mot pour rire witticism; 1585 or earlier in sense ‘expressive saying’; late 14th cent. in sense ‘motto, heraldic device’) < post-classical Latin muttum uttered sound (a420) < classical Latin muttīre to mutter, murmur < an imitative base probably seen also in mussāre (see mussitate v.) and mūtus mute adj. Compare Italian motto (see motto n.), Old Occitan mot (mid 11th cent.), Catalan mot (late 13th cent.), Spanish mote (13th cent.), Portuguese mote (16th cent.; earlier moto , 15th cent.). Compare earlier mot n.¹ and later mot n.⁴In later use partly non-naturalized (see e.g. quot. 1805 at sense 2); compare mot n.⁴

Etymology: Apparently a variant of mort n.⁴ (see discussion at that entry).

Etymology: < French mot witticism, expressive saying (see mot n.²). Compare earlier mot n.² and bon mot n. at bon adj. gNot fully naturalized in English. N.E.D. (1908) gives the non-naturalized pronunciation (mo) /mo/.

Etymology: < French motte butt to shoot at (1611 in Cotgrave, now obsolete), specific use of motte mote n.² Compare earlier motty n.¹

Etymology: Acronym < the initial letters of Ministry of Transport.The name of the test has been retained although the relevant department of the British Government has been renamed.

Etymology: < MOT n.⁶